Shadow of Repentance
by Hagaren Eeyore
Summary: Please read The Prologue: Sorrow before reading this, for this is the follow up main story thing. Contains shonen ai, RoyxHughes. Just a normal day for Roy and Hughes...what, you expect a better summary than that from someone like me?
1. Chapter 1: Letter

Here it is, the main stroy, Shadow of Repentance! I just sat here for five minutes until some sort of a title came to me, so thats it I guess -.-' I might change it later, so don't freak out if the title changes mysteriously one day.

This chapter shows how evil I am. Much of the beginning ish fluffy, but of course then the voices just couldn't stand me writing so much happiness and forced me to make certain unsaid character do totally irrational junk. >. Bear with me.

Yes, long chapter, I didn't lie -gasp- so yesh, muwahaha 2424 words minus a/n. That's like, the same number twice! -zomg!-

Okay, well, read and get it over with then. Mwahaha. Oh and by the way, if you are reading this and have not yet read the Prologue: Sorrow, please read that first, or your brain will most like implode from confusion.

RoyxHughes shounen-ai! -huggles- You have been warned/notified/gleefully informed.

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**Chapter One: Letter**

The scent of tomato soup wafted through the kitchen and into the living room, where Hughes leaned back in a navy blue recliner, which he had claimed for his own despite Roy's meek complaints. He had been boredly watching a fly climb about on his nose, cleaning its antennae. His nose was starting to itch.

When he caught a whiff of the food, his hand snapped up with inhuman speed and grasped the fly by the wings between his thumb and forefinger. It struggled for all it was worth, but it would never be strong enough to take on such a larger creature than it.

Hughes held it in front of his face, glaring at it fiercely. If flies could sweat, there would have been a rather large drop on its face under the pressure of the man's gaze. Which was then broken by an inhumanly large smile, but not so for Hughes.

He stood up and walked over to the open window, reaching his hand out of it before releasing the insect. It buzzed away as fast as its wings could take it.

With that done, Hughes brushed his hands together and made his way towards the kitchen.

Roy stood over a large pot, the thick orange-red soup bubbling inside of it. A white apron covered his front, whereas one hand was fitted snug inside an oven mitt while the other was adorned with one of his ignition-cloth gloves.

He stirred the soup idly with the mitted hand, every now and then adding bits of salt or other spices. It was just about ready when Hughes walked through the door, mid-yawn. Only the door had been closed at the time.

Roy jumped and sighed, placing a hand on his chest.

"Didn't I tell you not to do that while I was cooking?"

Hughes finished his yawn and shrugged, smirking.

"Yeah, and you said not to do it when you were reading, working, cleaning, sleeping, using the restroom-"

Roy blushed ferociously, the thumb and forefinger on his gloved hand pressed firmly together. Hughes waved his hands innocently.

"I told you, I didn't mean to go through the door, I had been leaning on it and just... you know..."

Hughes waved his hand to signify falling. Roy groaned loudly and turned back to the stove, shutting it off.

"Just consider yourself lucky that I had a towel on at the time. Otherwise..."

He snapped and a few sparks flew from his fingers.

Hughes grimaced and shrugged again before walking up behind Roy and leaning up against his back, looking down into the pot. He placed his hands on Roy's shoulders as he leaned farther. Roy stiffened.

"Don't do that when I'm mad at you."

Hughes chuckled.

"Why?"

Hughes gently began massaging Roy's shoulders, slowly pressing his thumbs more firmly against his tensed muscles. Roy moaned and relaxed, placing the spoon he was using to stir on the countertop before he dropped it.

"Because..."

Hughes continued to rub his shoulders before wrapping his arms around Roy, squeezing slightly.

"Sorry, that's not a good enough reason. Besides, I'm hungry."

Roy felt the warmth of Hughes' body leave him as he let go, slinking over to the pantry to scrounge out some bowls. It felt much colder than before without Hughes' body heat, but he ignored that, carrying the pot into the dining room and placing it on the table, then removing his oven mitt and replacing it with his other glove.

After a moment Hughes followed with bowls and utensils, placing them on either side of the table.

Roy sighed and simply looked at Hughes. He looked back, rolled his eyes and walked back into the kitchen, returning with napkins.

After a moment they were sitting across from each other, and Hughes eagerly served himself. Roy followed suit and raised an eyebrow as Hughes crumbled crackers overtop of his soup. He glanced up to look at Roy.

"What? I like crackers in my soup."

Roy smiled one of his true smiles reserved only for a certain few and looked down into his soup, taking a sip. He frowned. Too much salt.

Hughes couldn't help but grin as he sighed in mock annoyance.

"Roy, I _told_ you, your cooking is wonderful! Yet every time you take a bite, you look at it as if it tried to bite your tongue off! Damn perfectionist..."

Roy laughed, the soup sloshing over the side of the spoon and back into his bowl. He placed his spoon back into the soup and reached out, grabbing that bit of hair that spiked out from Hughes' forehead, tugging on it lightly.

"Ow! Hey, cut that out!"

Hughes reached out and groped at Roy's bangs.

"Wha- Hey!"

For the next few minutes they scrabbled about at each other's hair, the soup temporarily forgotten. Afterwards they sat back in their chairs, grins painted on their faces and bits of each other's hair in their fists. Both men's hair was quite mussed.

"Now look Hughes, my hair is a mess. Is this any way for the First Fuhrer to look?"

"Serves you right, you started it. And you should have made me a Fuhrer too."

"Wouldn't it be a bit much to have four Fuhrers?"

"No."

"Yeah, well, I'd really like to finish my soup before it gets cold, if you don't mind."

Despite his words, Roy would have rather messed around with Maes some more, but it would be easier after dinner.

After about thirty seconds they had both finished their soup and had leapt from their chairs as if they were on fire.

"You done too Roy?"

"Of course."

They both set off at a run towards the back door, leaping into the semi-transparent curved-top tent set up outside. As usual Roy entered first, leaping headfirst into the door flap and landing inside. A split second later Hughes followed, landing on top of Roy.

"Ugh! You idiot! Stop doing that! Besides, I know you can easily outrun me. You can even walk through walls for Pete's sake."

"Yeah, but then I'd have to sit in here all by myself for two whole seconds."

Despite Hughes being the larger man, his weight on top of him felt equivalent to a six-year-old's. Roy pushed him off and sat up, brushing himself off. He glanced at Maes rather coldly.

"Oh, I'm sure that would be extremely awful, two days alone in the Ishbal desert couldn't compare to being alone for two seconds in a tent in my backyard."

He spoke with sarcastic malice. Hughes pushed himself into a sitting position, his grin replaced by a concerned frown.

"Roy, I was only joking. Why bring that up now?"

Roy flinched and averted his eye.

"I'm sorry... it's just hard... "

The rest was illegible, muttered under his breath. Hughes took him in his arms and gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"You won't be alone anymore. Even for two seconds."

Roy looked up at him, lifted his hand and placed his index finger on Maes' nose, the fabric of his glove making his nose tingle.

"Idiot. How will you use the bathroom then?"

Hughes tapped a finger on his chin as if he were actually thinking about it.

"Well..."

Roy shoved Hughes' chest with both hands, causing him to fall onto his back.

"Becoming a bit perverted, are we?"

Hughes laughed, scratching his nose.

"Nah, just trying to see if I can freak you out."

"Sure you are."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Mustang lied down next to Hughes, the material of the tent floor cushioned by grass feeling rather comfortable.

"Oh, nothing. Pervert."

Hughes chuckled and placed his hands behind his head, staring up into the sky distorted by the tent ceiling. The sky was becoming a beautiful array of colors as the sun set on the horizon. He turned his head look at Roy, who was also staring at the multitude of colors with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Time to go back in?"

"Mmph."

"What?"

"...Yeah."

Roy managed to pry himself from the comfort of the tent floor and stood up, pushing aside the tent flap as he walked out into the soft glow of the fading sun. He waited there a moment, expecting Hughes embrace him from behind or something of the sort, as usual. Nothing happened.

Roy turned around and peered back into the tent, where Hughes was sitting straight up, a slightly surprised expression on his face.

"Maes?"

"Roy, your doorbell is ringing."

"How...wait, never mind. Be right back."

He lowered the flap and rushed into the house, where he could then faintly hear the doorbell. He reached the door and opened it to reveal a soldier slightly shorter than he, and probably younger, with short blonde hair and large glasses. He held out a white business envelope.

"A message for you, First Fuhrer sir."

Roy glanced at the boy's uniform, and noticed the badge signifying he was with the Central Investigations Bureau. He resisted the urge to bite his lip. He accepted the letter, glancing at the cover, but didn't take the time to read it yet.

"Thank you. Carry on."

"Sir."

The boy left in a military car. Roy shut the door, checked the lock twice out of habit, and walked over to the living room couch. He set himself down and shifted until he was comfortable before looking at the envelope. The address was handwritten, elegant yet simple, controlled. He glanced at the left corner for a return address. There was none. That handwriting looked familiar, however he knew it was nothing like any of his subordinate's handwriting. Riza maybe? No, she would never take the time to write even the slightest bit fancy.

He clenched his teeth, a bit irritated. He _knew_ that handwriting, and it was bugging him for some reason. He took a deep breath and slowly opened it, finding a single handwritten letter inside. He glanced at the date, it was written yesterday. Normally he would read the letter first, but that handwriting...

His gaze fell upon the signature at the bottom, and he felt his heart drop into his stomach and he couldn't breath.

He threw the letter away from him as if it was toxic, and it fluttered to the floor, landing face down on the plush carpet. He swallowed, feeling the sweat already forming on his face. He began to shake, slowly bringing his hands up to hold the sides of his head.

_No... think Roy, it can't be her... it must be someone pulling a prank or some kind of sick joke..._

Denial.

He knew it; there was no mistaking that handwriting. Even if someone were able to find out about her, it would be just too much of a coincidence for them to have her exact handwriting.

Hughes never had much patience for waiting, and after a few minutes went back into the house as it was starting to become dark. He had heard someone arrive, it had sounded like a delivery, but there had been silence after that.

Maes stepped into the living room to find Roy sitting sideways on the couch with his back to the armrest, his legs drawn against his chest and his head lowered and encased in hands, his knuckles growing white from his tight grip. There was a piece of paper on the floor.

"Roy! What's going on? What happened?

Roy just shook his head, muttering under his breath, refusing to remove his hands.

Maes rushed forward and forced Roy's chin upwards and towards him. He removed his hands and found himself face to face with Hughes. He took a sharp intake of breath when he saw the haunted look in Roy's eyes. Roy stared at him; however Hughes could tell he was only staring through him, whispering bits and pieces of thoughts to himself.

"Roy, damn it, get a hold of yourself!"

And he slapped him once across his right cheek.

Roy blinked and brought a hand up to feel the stinging sensation growing in his face before turning his face to Hughes.

"Maes..."

He caught sight of the letter again and gasped, pushing his legs against the couch and causing himself to fall over the armrest onto the floor. Hughes snaked an arm under Roy's and helped him up, holding him there. He leaned into Hughes; his legs didn't want to support him.

"That letter..."

"Let's go back to the tent, okay?"

"...yeah..."

Hughes stepped over and picked up the letter on his way back to the back door, still supporting Roy. He turned his head as far away from the letter as possible when Maes picked it up, as if afraid to see even the tiniest part of it.

Once they had made it back into the tent, Hughes set Roy down on the floor and plopped down beside him, holding the letter in front of him. He didn't look at it yet. He wanted to hear from Roy first.

"Alright, tell me, what's going on?"

Roy simply glanced at the letter piece of paper before looking away again.

"That letter..."

"Yes, this letter. What about it?"

"The signature..."

Hughes gave a Roy a questioning look before flattening out the letter and looking towards the bottom. He looked mildly surprised.

"Candice K. Mustang?"

Roy flinched, and shivered.

"It can't be her. It can't."

"Why? Who is she? Is she related to you?"

"It's not her!"

Roy jumped to his feet and stumbled backwards a few steps towards the entrance. Hughes stood and took a small step towards him, holding out his hands.

"Roy...calm down... tell me, why can't it be her?"

Hughes flinched, his voice sounded harsher than he had meant. Roy stepped back one more step.

"Because I killed her! I killed my sister!"

He was already running into the house by the time Hughes made it out of the tent.

He couldn't get the images out of his mind; the pain wouldn't go away, he needed an outlet, anything...

Roy ran into the restroom and placed his hands on the tiled wall. He slammed his head into the wall as hard as he could, over and over and over. He couldn't stop, he didn't think he wanted too, or he would have to face it again.

When Hughes made it to the bathroom, he saw Roy sprawled on his back, blood running in thick rivulets from his forehead, seeping into his eyepatch and pooling on the floor. He groaned and moved his head slightly.

"Roy! What happened? Stay with me!"

He looked up numbly, and his vision blurred and faded to white.

"Roy, Don't die!"

He fell into darkness.

**End Chapter One**

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There you have it. The voices at work for that last bit. I was hoping for the first chapter to be just basically happy fluff, but the voices wouldn't have it. AndI told you, I always do what the voices tell me. I think I will name the voices. I think I will name the voice that forced me to write the shite for the last bit of this chapter Foobuggins.

Foobuggins wants you wall to know that if you don't review, he will tell me to connect my hand to your face in a painful way. And use Barry the Chopper's cleaver to chop you up. Dunno how I will get that, but Foobuggins will find a way. Mehehehe. Cleavers are fun.

So yah. Please review. Or Sally will call me deragatory terms. Yes I named another voice Sally. She's the one who insults me and keeps me in my place. -whimper- She's a meany. No I didn't mean it Sally I swear! Hey, that wasn't a very nice thing to say, keep it pg-13!. -continues talking to self-


	2. Chapter 2: Sanity

Why? Why are there no reviews? -sob- I probably overdid it making Roy go ballistic and junk, but I told yu, the voices!

Well, whether that's the reason or not, please leave reviews. It may be that people who haven't read the prologue came here first on accident or something, I don't know. But if I don't get very many reviews soon,I may discontinue the story. More stuff just keeps popping up that I have to do, and at this time it seems I will have very little time to work on the fanfiction. It's enough time to write if I want to,but if everyone hates the story I see no point in continuing.

Yeah, this chapter is short because due to lack of time and reviews, and because marching band is eating me, I got sunburn from a b-day partythat is eating my shoulders, I hafta do a buncha chores everyday now and my muse ran off and is laughing at me from a distance. If I had gotten a couple reviews It might have been longer, but after coming back to try and continue it about four or five times I just gave up and ended it here.

Please, please, if you are not reviewing because you didn't like it, please review totell me what is wrong with it. Critique is welcome people, but don't just say you hate it and not say how to improve it. If it's really bad, I'll restart the main story.

Sorry I'm kind of dull right now, I'm kinda mentally exhausted and pretty tired.Not to mention I have marching band rehearsal in about forty minutes. x.x

Something I have not mentioned before but may need to bring up: If my story looks like it is copying another fic you have seen, I swear it's coincidental. I do notplagiarize intentionally. If it looks similar to a fic you have written, please let me know and if you want me to change it I will.

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**Chapter 2: Sanity**

"He did WHAT?"

"That's what it looked like."

Roy slowly faded into consciousness. Slowly opening his good eye, he blinked until the room came into focus. It seemed to be his room.

"I think he's coming to, Nii-san..."

"He is? Ah good, now I can beat some sense into him."

Roy recognized Al and Ed's voices coming from his right, and would have turned his head towards them if he didn't feel strangely numb at the moment. In the end he didn't need to, for he heard a chair scraping and Ed was now standing over him, looking at him with a look of disgust and a hint of concern.

"So you finally decided to wake up. Bastard."

Roy weakly lifted an arm to his forehead and realized there was a bandage wrapped around it. His fingers went instinctively to his left eye to find that it was bandaged as well, his patch gone.

"Where's Maes?"

Roy grimaced. His voice sounded weak and strained. Pathetically so.

Ed raised his eyebrows in surprise before pointing a thumb towards the end of the bed. Al and Hughes sat in chairs around a card table. There was a pile of various things laid upon it, and he could make out books, cards, food packages, and cans. It looked as though they had been there for a while.

Hughes smiled weakly and stood up to follow Ed. He looked down at Roy, his hands in his pockets.

"How do you feel?"

"Kind of numb..."

"Yeah, that would be some drug a nurse told us to give you. It'll wear off pretty soon though. We got some help from the hospital."

"Why didn't you take me to the hospital?"

Hughes looked at him a bit strangely, and looked as if he were choosing his words carefully.

"Well, I knew how you hated hospitals, so-"

"So the idiot tells us if we tried to move you he'd rip our heads off."

Ed was looking at them both, an eyebrow raised.

"I dunno about Al, but I'm pretty attached to my head."

Al rolled his eyes.

Roy looked down at his hands. He could feel a slight sensation in his head, confirming that the drugs were beginning to fade. His thinking was slightly fuzzy. He apparently knew he had been injured... now he remembered how.

He became very cold and began to shiver violently. Ed frowned and Hughes reached out and placed his hand on Roy's.

"What's wrong old man?"

Ed would have said more, but he noticed that Hughes was leaning very close to Roy's face while stroking his hair. He blinked dumbly, and you could see the gears turning before realization dawned.

"Guu- Err... Al, let's go outside for a while."

"Huh? What about Roy?"

"Just come on!"

Ed ran over and grabbed Al's wrist, dragging him out the door and closing it behind him.

Hughes watched them from the corners of his eyes and grinned before turning his attention fully to Roy. He was shivering less, Maes' body leaning against his warmed him up greatly.

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked you about that letter..."

Roy cut him off, lifting his head and closing the few inches of space between their lips. It was short, mostly because Roy found the longer he held his head up the greater the pain within it grew, and he let himself fall back on the pillows.

"No, don't blame yourself for this. It's my fault... I'm weak."

"Don't say that. After all you've been through, you're still here and you're still sane. Most men wouldn't be able to endure it. You're not weak.

Roy scoffed, an eerie grin on his face. Sometimes he had to wonder if he really was sane anymore.

"Don't smile like that, it's creepy."

The grin widened into a real one before turning into a frown.

"I know you want me to believe that, but I am weak. I may have seemed strong back then, but it still haunts me now. Sometimes I wonder why I don't snap under the weight of it all."

After that statement he flinched at turned his face away from Hughes. He found out the hard way that doing so caused incredible pain to flourish in his head.

"Ah..."

"Don't move too much, you're gonna be sore for a while."

He muttered a quiet yes, afraid to nod his head in response. Hughes leaned in next to Roy's ear, his face serious, and he spoke in a whisper.

"Promise me you will never do that to me again. Or yourself, for that matter."

Roy clenched his teeth, the action creating a small ache in his forehead. He had made a promise like that before. He hadn't been able to keep it. Hughes sighed and pulled away, walking to the door and opening it.

"You rest awhile. I'll come back later to check on you."

And he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

**End Chapter Two

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geh... I really should write a happy fic. I try to put angst in and it goes downhill from there. >. Review. Please. 


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting

Fuwah!

Alrighty, I will continue the story, still not getting as many reviews as I would have liked x.x but we can't have everything.

Well, this is actually my second attempt at writing the third chapter, as the original attemptseemed to make things to complicated for me, and I probably only wrote it at the time because I was craving sum RoyxEd at the time x.x but yeh, let's just stick to RoyxHughes fur now, may stick in some competition later on XD. (At some point I may finish the other attempted chapter and stick it on here as a drabble.)

-stabs ffn- Gah, it keeps logging me out when I leave even tho I check for it to keep me logged on for three days. X.x

Well, once again I am dedicating this chapter to NubianQueen413, who died twice when I said I might discontinue the story. Come bak to life! –cough- Thanks for your dedicated review-ness!

Sorry I didn't get this chapter out sooner, I was waiting for reviews and I've been busy, and band camp is next week, so I'll be gone for a week (Sunday thru Friday) so this will be the last update for a while T.T And now my comp is freaking out and spewing a bunch of popups even though I have a popup blocker. –much stabiness-

Much huggles for the peoples, and here's chapter three.

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**Chapter 3: Meeting**

Roy stared at the ceiling for a while after Hughes left. From the window he could hear the sound of Ed and Al yelling, apparently Hughes was chasing them with the huge water gun he had bought the other day. The wind blew through the trees outside like soft waves, and a variety of birds could be heard singing merrily to the skies. The ache in his head was a distant throbbing now. He turned his head away from the window and tentatively pushed himself upwards off the bed. Only a small twinge of pain answered his movements, and he pushed himself up into a slouched sitting position.

Out of habit he reached for the bedside table to get his eyepatch, forgetting that it had been ruined and he would have to get a spare one from his dresser. Instead his hand landed on something that crinkled when his hand landed on it. He blinked and turned to see what it was.

His hand was resting on the envelope addressed to him, and by the thickness of it it seemed the letter had been refolded and placed back inside. Very slowly, he folded his fingers around the edge of the paper and lifted it into his lap, where he gazed silently at it, biting his lip. Still slowly he lifted the flap on the envelope and pulled out the paper within, delicately unfolding it to reveal that handwriting full of memories.

_To First King Fuhrer Mustang:_

_I am sure that you are aware of the recent incident at the Hughes home. There were no known witnesses. The evidence points towards the damage being caused by Gracia Hughes due to her mental condition. However, there were many strange objects and alchemic arrays located in the basement. _

_I would like to arrange to meet with you to discuss what is to be done. Also, there was a certain item found that I would like to ask you about. I hope to see you in two days at 6:00 pm in my office in Central Headquarters. If you do not know where it is the receptionist can direct you there. If you would rather meet me at another time, please notify the receptionist._

_Sincerely,_

_Candice K. Mustang, Head of the Central Investigations Bureau_

Her signature was scrawled at the very bottom below her title. Her title that made no sense whatsoever. Head of C.I.B.? How was that possible? Could his sister have really been alive this entire time in the military, right under his nose? He shuddered.

He glanced at the calendar on his wall and blinked in surprise. Apparently he had been unconscious for much more than twenty-four hours. Today was the day she wanted to meet him. He switched his gaze onto the clock, which told him it was now five o'clock. He had an hour.

He had been too absorbed in his thoughts to notice footsteps closing in on the room, and jumped considerably when Hughes with water gun in hand burst in the door...no, he had gone right through it again. He heard a loud thump on the outside of the still closed door, followed by a string of curses. Hughes had a childish grin plastered on his face and was laughing uncontrollably at the door, which then burst open to admit a soaking wet Edward Elric, followed closely by Alphonse, who was just as soaked. Both were breathing heavily from running around.

"DAMN YOU HUGHES! Wait 'til I get my hand on you-"

"But I don't like to wait!"

You could almost hear Ed's teeth grinding.

"That's it, you're dead!"

Ed leaped at Hughes, with a flash of light went right through him, and slammed into the side or Roy's bed instead.

"Ugh..."

"Are you alright nii-san?

"He'll be fine, he's too small to get hurt from that-"

Hughes blinked in surprise as the water gun was wrenched from his grip by Al, who then pointed it at its previous owner. Al grinned at the stunned look on Hughes' face. Ed had managed to stand back up and had joined Maes in staring stupidly at Al.

"It's my turn now!"

He shot a jet of water at Hughes, which hit him squarely in the face. He fell over backwards, gurgling. Ed laughed and stepped towards his brother.

"Way to go Al! Didn't expect that! Uh, Al? What are you doing? Hey wait, we're on the same side right? No, don't- ARGH!"

Now Al was the one laughing uncontrollably at the two wet figures lying on the floor. Al turned towards the bed and finally noticed that Roy was awake, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open rather dumbly. He shook his head and grinned at Al. Al smiled and walked over to him, dropping the water gun on the floor.

"Hey, Roy, are you alright now? Oh, that..."

Al looked nervously at the letter in Roy's hands.

"We didn't read it yet, we thought you should see it first."

"Oh... thank you..."

By that time Hughes had stood and walked up to the bed to look over Roy's shoulder at the letter. His brows drew together in slight confusion, but he looked at Roy before saying anything, as if to make sure he wouldn't have a relapse of the other day.

"Head of C.I.B.?"

Roy nodded.

"I'm not sure what this is all about, but I'm going to go find out. I want to be at Central headquarters within the hour."

Hughes only began to look more concerned.

"Are you sure you don't want to reschedule?"

"Do you really think I'm going to sit in bed doing nothing when there is a country to run?"

Hughes grinned.

"I guess not."

Roy quickly hid the letter under the sheets as Ed shot at Hughes from behind with the water gun.

After a few more sneak attacks, one hitting Roy in the face (after which Ed had to cut off an inch of singed hair), they all were finally dressed and walking up the steps at Central H.Q.

After speaking to the receptionist, who pointed towards a long hallway, they were soon all gathered in front of a door labeled Candice K. Mustang. A few long seconds passed before Roy raised a gloved hand to turn the doorknob and slowly open the door.

Roy stepped in first. The first thing he saw was a desk with another name label (C.K. Mustang), with a woman sitting behind it. She stood up, and Roy started and gaped at her. Hughes, Ed, and Al had walked in behind him, and they were all staring as well, their mouths open in surprise. The woman stepped around her desk and walked straight up to Roy, saluting.

"I've been expecting you, sir. I'm glad you could make it."

She was Ishballan.

**End Chapter Three**

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Sorry it's short, I wanted to be sure I finished it before band camp, andI ended up having to write it all in one sitting x.x. But now I have you all on a cliffhanger! MWAHAHAHAA! –cough- 

Review time!

**Bakuras-Hell:** Thanks! See, I wrote more! –cackles insanely-

**Thatz of the Dragon knights:** Arigato! Yay, I made someone laugh for more than two seconds! –happy dance- Good luck with your new fic, it's really good (and funny!)

**NubianQueen413:** O.o Oh no I killed someone twice! I'm a murderer! But then again, who says I haven't killed before? –more insane cackling- Come bak to life? Please? o.o

Where are you Duet and Mauzkateer? I feel unloved! -sniff- Oh well, I'm sure yu guys have you reasons.

'Til next time! If I don't die at band camp first x.x

Please review? Much luv and cookies to those who do! And...uuh...less luv for those who don't. And no cookies.


	4. Chapter 4: Blind

I'm alive!

–gasp- omg really?

Yes, it is true, I have not died. I'm sorry that I haven't updated in such a long while, and then finally update with this short pile of codswallop. At least it answers a few questions.

You see, once again, it was going to be much longer. _Much_ much longer. I ended up deleting about 2 or 3 pages probably. That's because I was trying to fit in a whole HavocxFury thing. After writing very slowly and/or staring blankly at Microsoft word for hours on end trying to think up how the plot is going to work until I finally just accepted that I cannot write decent HavocxFury shtuff at the moment. Probably the reason for this is because after reading (most) of the FMA manga, I'm having trouble pairing Havoc with anyone but Roy, and that's not really possible for this fic, is it? x.x

And now school is eating away at me, although I must say my high school seems very nice, but that doesn't change the fact that algebra is a brain dissolvent. Marching band is still eating me, and none of our sets are hitting properly and one particular greenie is a chronic smartmouth and never remembers his sets. x.x And I was trying to avoid joining too many other clubs and stuffthis year, as marching band is pretty life-consuming, but all of a sudden now I'm in a skit for homecoming, have to design tickets for the senior night souper bowl (yes souper bowl mehehe –cough-), and have been nominated historian for the Business Professionals of America thingy. Now Science Olympiad is definately out of the question. And no, I do NOT mean Science Olympia. Sheesh, it gets annoying how many people say that.

So...I'm not exactly sure where the story will go from here. I may just end up cutting out any sort of side plots simply because I lack the skills to write them. You can see that I'm not very good with little stuff if you read mysingle drabble. I should go delete that soon anyways, it is very sucky.

Also, now I am addicted to Death Note manga. Obsessed. Dedicated my every waking moment to. Now, this doesn't mean I've lost interest in FMA. I am still very much obsessed with FMA. -drool-However, Death Note is very, very cool. I like murder mysteries and detectives and stuff, and...there's just no words to describe how awe-inspiring this manga is. The artwork isfreakin awesome, and if you've ever read Hikaru no Go, it's the same artist, so you should know how good the artist is. But geh, go read it. L rocks. But now rather than my main bishies being Hughes and Roy, they are now Hughes, Roy and L. (Not to mention the pairing RaitoxL) MUWAHAHAHAHA. Excuse my caps lock. –twitch-

Well, if I go on for much longer my a/n will become longer than the actual chapter. So...any plot ideas are welcome, I suppose. Man, I miss summer vacation already. At least now I'm up off my lazy ass and doing more productive things. –nervous giggle- also, the novelthe Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold (I think that's her name) is very good. Just so you know. –scuttles off-

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 4: Blind**

She was Ishballan. Her hair was dark and stopped just below her jaw, curling slightly under at the ends to frame her face. Her skin was creamy brown and her crimson eyes... She was obviously blind in her left eye. The pupil looked foggy, and the eye didn't move with her right. It just continued to stare slightly downward as her right eye fixed itself upon Roy's face. He couldn't keep himself from staring and swallowed nervously.

"Are you alright, your Excellency?"

She spoke as she eyed the bandages on his head and eye. She caught sight of Ed and Al behind him, and she strengthened her salute.

"Ah, so you're all here. This will make things eas..."

She spotted Hughes behind all of them, trying to find a way around them into the room. She faltered and her arm lowered from her forehead to her chest.

"Is that...?"

Roy frowned. He hadn't thought this through before they had come here. The last thing he needed was for the investigations bureau to go sniffing around as to how the Brigadier General was alive. They had spread a rumor around that Hughes hadn't really been killed, that his 'death' and funeral were just a cover-up so he could go into hiding.

Speaking of lies, this woman was most definitely not his sister. None of his known ancestors were Ishballan, and he knew what his sister looked like. He gave a half-relieved, half-disappointed sigh.

"Yes, that is Brigadier General Hughes."

She lowered her arm back to her side and leaned forward slightly rather than bow. She then gestured to a couple of couches around a coffee table in front of her desk. She was still staring at Hughes.

Roy hesitated a moment, his brows knitted together before taking a seat. The rest followed. Roy realized Hughes was staring right back at her with the same look on his face as she did as he sat down. After they were all seated she took a seat at her desk. She began to speak.

"Alright, let's-"

"Wait."

She turned sharply to look at Roy. He stared back at her, and noticed her gaze wavered slightly, as if she didn't wish to look at him. Maybe she just had bad eyes?

"Yes sir?"

"Please explain to me why you are using my sister's name."

She seemed quite taken aback by this command, and the others all glanced at him with grim and worried looks. She swiftly composed herself and linked her hands in front of her on her desk, one eye fixed in Roy's direction as the other gazed blankly in the direction of a picture on her desk.

"I see. Then you really are _that_ Roy Mustang."

Roy's eye ticked. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking. He made sure to keep his face as blank as hers.

Everyone jumped as her blank stare changed abruptly to a wide smile and from that into a full, hearty laugh.

"You obviously do not recognize me, Roy."

His immediate reaction would have been to tell her that he had never met her before, but he stopped with his mouth halfway open. She...did look familiar...

Roy's mouth slowly closed as recognition flooded him. It had been so many years ago, long before the Ishbal massacre. A family from an eastern land had moved onto his street. They had one child, a young girl. From the first time that girl and his sister met, they had been close enough to be sisters. He himself had been fond of her too, and they would often play together. He had never thought any different of her for her dark skin and red eyes... and then...

"I don't understand... Karen, what...?"

Karen chuckled quietly.

"Yes, I know, where did I go, why am I here, what happened to my eye, and why am I using the name Candice."

Ed fidgeted noticeably in his seat, he didn't like be left out of the loop, but managed to keep his mouth shut. Al watched them silently while rubbing the fabric of his shirt together between two fingers simply to be able to feel the texture, which had become a nervous habit since he had regained his sense of touch. Hughes was once again watching Karen, a strange expression on his face; as if he wasn't sure of what he was looking at. She turned her good eye to look at him. He lowered his gaze.

"I promise I will tell you everything in good time, Roy. However, I called you here for an important reason. You probably figured as much when I asked you to come see me, when I could have easily come to you."

She opened a drawer in her desk and pulled something dark out of it. It disappeared from view beneath her desk before he could see what it was.

"Before I show you this, there is something I would like to ask."

She turned to look at Hughes again, who ignored her, his eyes still lowered to gaze at the midnight blue carpet.

"Is he a homunculus?"

Hughes straightened with a jolt and gaped at her, while the Elrics stared in confusion and surprise. Roy shifted slightly.

"What makes you think that?"

She gazed at Hughes for a bit longer, who had resorted once again to staring back at her.

" I saw the arrays in the basement of his house, after studying them this was the conclusion I had come to-"

"No...I don't think that's it."

Hughes stood and slowly stepped over to her desk. She gazed up at him with a questioning look that seemed somewhat bored.

"Oh?"

Hughes opened his mouth again, and was immediately cut off by the door slamming open as a flustered Havoc burst into the room, his face flushed and breath heavy from running. Everyone had turned to stare as he rested his hands on his knees and spoke between gasping breaths.

"Sir...Mustang...your office...someone broke into...your office..."

* * *

Well, there you have it. Gah, plot ideas very welcome right about now. I might come up with something eventually, but if I don't...yeah.

Revieeeeew tiiiime!

**NubianQueen413:** Meh, sorry it took me so long to update, here –cookie platter- Muwahaha feel the power of the cookie!

**Thatz of the Dragon knights:** I thought Al needs his bit of spotlight now and then, he doesn't always just stand in the background and go 'nii-san' all the time... Or at least I don't think so . Hmm, I dunno, Al doesn't seem like a very outstanding character to me, but he can do anything when it comes to his brother. Hmm.

**Mauzkateer:** Moo. –ahem- well, I e-mailed you some answers simply because I had a feeling the next update would be a long time in the making x.x But I'll say it here in case anyone else is wondering.

The tent was not for any particular reason, it's just when I was younger we would sometimes have tents set up in the backyard for no particular reason and sleep there at night.

The thing with the Homunculus, Hughes has control over his body, the Homunculus' mind is sorta just a presence in the back of his mind. So for now at least, Hughes is himself.

**Aj-sama:** Thankies! Although my writing skills could use a lot of improvement...

Well, band camp was long while ago now, but next Saturday we'll be having a four-hour rehearsal and our old drill instructor/writer will be there. A.K.A. band camp squished into four hours/a living hell. But at least we'll improve! Right? T.T

Still not much reviews...x.x I'm tired of begging people to review. So review or flame or whatever, I don't really care right now...just got to see shaun of the dead for the first time, didn't seem as funny as my friends told me it was O.o It was funny, just not hilarious. I was probably just feeling angsty when I watched it. Mer.Toodles.


	5. Chapter 5: Blood

BOO!

-cough-

Heyguesswhat? I have decided to go ahead and put obvious thought in the story into italics from this chapter on. Pretty cool, right? Right? –shoves a pencil through brain-

Speaking of writing, I actually wrote the next chapter! And I think it may actually make some sense to the human brain! –head explodes-

Grah. Anwayz, I stuck in a bit of the last chapter to refresh your dusty ol' memories, cuz of course nobody remembers I exist. –cough-

Someone has dared me to write a completely angst-free fic! –GASP- I know, you're thinking, that'll never happen, right?...well...you MAY be right, but maybe not! –maniacal laugh- I'm working on it... .

Stupid ladybeetles are back! They're gunna give me bronchitis again, I kno it x.x (Yes, there is a difference between a ladybug and a ladybeetle. o.o)

Umm...that's it for now I suppose. I have a few fics started, I'm planning for at least one to be a drabble, but I have a buncha FFVII fic beginnings-but-never-finished fics, and I have had a sudden burst of inspiration to write shounen ai Trigun fics with WolfwoodxVash (MWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA –dies-), although I haven't started on that either.

It was my b-day on tha 13th of October! Not that I'm telling you how old I am –shifty eyes- I forget if I already told anyone my age already or not O.o whatever.

To sum it up... I'm a lazy bum. Now READ, dammit, READ! –shoves random person's nose against screen-

* * *

**-_last chapter_-**

"No...I don't think that's it."

Hughes stood and slowly stepped over to her desk. She gazed up at him with a questioning look that seemed somewhat bored.

"Oh?"

Hughes opened his mouth again, and was immediately cut off by the door slamming open as a flustered Havoc burst into the room, his face flushed and breath heavy from running. Everyone had turned to stare as he rested his hands on his knees and spoke between gasping breaths.

"Sir...Mustang...your office...someone broke into...your office..."

* * *

**Chapter 5: Blood**

And he collapsed face first on the floor.

"Havoc!"

Roy bolted to the second lieutenant's side, followed closely by Hughes, Ed and Alphonse. Havoc weakly lifted his head enough to look up at Roy's face, a weak smile fixed onto his pale complexion.

"Yeah...they put up a bit of a fight too..."

A loud gasp came from Alphonse.

"Look!"

He was pointing at a large tear in the side of Havoc's uniform, where a pool of blood was beginning to form on the floor. He coughed a splat of blood onto the carpet and his head fell back down.

"You've got to...help the others..."

Roy's breath caught in his throat, and this constant chain of events might have sent him into a rare panic if Maes hadn't just placed a large hand onto his shoulder.

"Let's go. I'll carry Havoc."

Roy swallowed nervously and paused for a moment, regaining his well-trained sense of calm. It seemed easy once he focused on it.

"Let's go."

The room was emptied in a heartbeat, save Karen, who was standing at her desk, gazing distantly down at the dark black bag in her hand. She traced the embroidered letters, C.M., with her fingers before hastily shoving it into a pocket and hurrying down the hall after the others.

Hughes was in the lead with Havoc cradled in his arms, and when he abruptly stopped around the corner before the office, Roy almost ran into him.

"My god..."

"Hughes, what is it?"

Roy stepped into the hallway and stopped, frozen.

His office was two doors down the hall from where they stood. The door had been smashed inward as if bludgeoned, and a few papers were lying outside the destroyed doorway. This was not what had caught his attention. Blood smeared the white paint across from his door and along the walls on either side. Sprawled among the blood and mess were Farman, Breda, and Fury, motionless.

"No...this can't..."

Roy rushed to the nearest person's side. Farman was lying on his side with his back pressed against the wall. By the blood smattering behind his head, it looked as if he had been thrown there with great force. His eyes half open, and he looked so pale and lifeless... Roy lifted shaking fingers to Farman's neck. A steady pulse beat there. _Thank god, he's still alive._

He could feel the other's shadows move to loom over him.

"Hey... I sent Al to go call the hospital."

"Good. Maes, take Farman and Havoc outside to wait for the ambulances, they shouldn't be long. Karen... go with them. Fullmetal, stay here while I check on the others."

"I can walk, thanks..."

Havoc pushed against Hughes' arms, who abruptly set him down. He stood wavering for a moment, but seemed stable enough to stand despite his tight grip on the wound in his side. He lifted a finger before Roy could begin to protest.

"You know they need care more than me. I'll carry someone if I need to."

"That won't be necessary, I assure you. Fine. Hughes, carry Farman, and Havoc can follow you. Get going."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll tell you everything after this is all sorted out. I just hope you'll be able to hear it from everyone..."

"Go!"

He nodded swiftly. Hughes carefully scooped up Farman and took off towards the entrance with Karen. Havoc hesitated, and looked straight into Roy's eyes. In that moment, Roy could have sworn that he saw the most pained expression on his friend's face. But then it was gone, and he had left. Roy swallowed apprehensively and crouched down next to the next man down, Breda.

He was lying on his back outside of Roy's office. It looked as if he had fallen down unconscious rather than thrown there like Farman had been. There was a small gash on his left cheek, and his left arm was twisted up behind his back. It was easy to tell he was alive for his rasping breaths, but that he was having trouble breathing didn't bode well.

"Breda's alive... Ed, transmute a trolley or something, we'll take them as soon as I check on Fury..."

Fury was lying on his back as well, staring blindly at the ceiling. He didn't have any visible injuries. Roy crouched down next to him and felt for broken bones, cuts, bruises, blood, anything, but there was nothing. He felt for a pulse, and his breath caught in his throat.

He lifted a hand and gently closed Fury's lifeless eyes.

* * *

Don't kill me.

It'll all work out in the end, I promise!... . -cough- eh...

Stay tuned for more insanity-inducing angst. Buwahahaha. I hope to have the next chapter out by... let's say... sometime next week? At least now I have inspiration. Muwah. Remember, fury fans don't kill me, for who knows, if you keep me alive, maybe I can bring him back! Right? Right? ...-hides-

REVIEWSSS!

**Eternalflamingdragon:** Well, now you know why he ran all the way there just to tell him that...-twitch- Fuwahahahahaha erm.

You really think it rocks? Thank yu!

**Aj-sama:** O.O Wow, those are probably some of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. Thank yu very much! Have some cookies! –cookie-

I really twisted the plot now, didn't I? Hope I didn't twist it beyond recognition x.x

**NubianQueen413:** Now, now, no need to resort to violence...yet...

Have some more cookies! –cookie- How about some chocolate too? –chocolate- YAY FOR SUGAR! Bblaaalhgflhdflkhasdflkhosghn

-cough-

please review?


	6. Chapter 6: Fault

Wow, the chapters are really getting short, and this one's kinda crappy and written a little too quickly. Did I mention none of my fics are beta-ed? X.x. They should lengthen back out soon enough tho. But hey, quick update, right?

Moo.

Oh yeah. I disclaim.

**

* * *

Chapter 6: Fault**

There was complete silence in the hospital lobby, broken only by a nurse passing by to inquire at the desk or a patient coming in for a checkup. At one point someone came running in with his arm sliced open, but the staff took care of it quickly and efficiently. The lobby was a round area with couches and armchairs surrounding a coffee table. Roy was sitting on one of the couches, leaning over his knees and staring at the ground and constantly snapping his gloved fingers. Ed was sitting next to him, staring at the coffee table in front of him with a look of intense thought on his face. Hughes and Al were on the couch across from them. Al was curled up, asleep, with his head buried in his arms. Hughes was sitting back and watching the sparks fly from Roy's gloves. Karen had gone back to her office, saying that she still had work to do and that it would probably be better if she wasn't there to bother them. Riza was nowhere to be found.

They had been there for almost two hours, with no word from the doctors. They had all refused to leave and Al had cried himself to sleep after the first hour. Roy was just about ready to start actually burning things rather than just making sparks when there was a commotion from down the hall the others were being kept in.

"I told you I'm fine! Now let me through!"

Havoc was trying to push past two nurses and a doctor. Roy, Hughes and Ed stood up and stared. Al mumbled and lifted his head slightly, jumping to his feet at the sight of Havoc. He had apparently spotted them as well, for he was trying to make a beeline in their direction.

"Hey! Guys! Tell these idiots to let go of me, I need to talk to you!"

Roy walked briskly up to the crowd of people.

"Havoc, you can tell me what happened when the doctors deem your condition stable. Until then, I'm sure you can put up with a crowd of women around your bed."

Havoc stopped struggling, and his face hardened into darkly serious expression.

"This can't wait."

It was silent again, at least for a minute until Roy closed his eyes and turned back towards the lobby.

"Fine. Doctor, please let him through. I will take responsibility for him. This shouldn't take long."

The doctor hesitated, nodded, and let Havoc pass by. Havoc brushed his light blue hospital clothes off and walked stiffly into the lobby, careful not to disturb the bandaged gash in his side. He seated himself in the armchair closest to the couches and looked around at the faces around him, which were now locked intently in his direction. He sighed, scratched his head, and gingerly leaned on his knees and clasped his hands together.

"This is all my fault."

Confused looks followed. Ed spoke up.

"How can any of this be your fault? Just because you couldn't stop it doesn't make it your fault, any more than it makes it Breda's or Farman's or-"

"No, Ed, this is my fault, because I caused it to happen."

Roy let this sink in a moment. _How could he have caused it...?_

"I suppose it would be best to start from the beginning, but first things first. Fury is not dead."

Silence.

"No, I'm not in denial, nor have I lost my marbles or smoked too much. The truth is that the man lying in that room is not Fury."

"But we saw him..."

Al's voice was shaky, and he looked ready to cry again. Roy slowly stood up. He had a terrible sinking feeling in his gut.

"If what you are saying is true, then the only one who could be lying in that bed..."

Havoc nodded.

"Envy."

It was Ed's turn to stand up.

"I refuse to believe it. Even if Envy did find a way out of the gate, there is no possible scenario that could cause him to end up dead looking like Fury at Central headquarters. Plus, Homunculi sort of melt when they die."

"He's not dead."

Roy's head was spinning, and he sat down. He took a few deep breaths. You could only ask so many questions at one time. He would have to be patient, all the answers would come in due time.

"Where is the real Fury then?"

"At my house."

"Care to explain?"

Havoc sat back in his chair.

"Okay. It began not too long ago, I'd say a couple days after Hughes came back. Envy showed up on my doorstep, and Fury happened to fixing my television at the time..."

* * *

See? See? I told you it would all work out! Rejoice, Fury-luvvers!

Reviewwww tiiimeeeeeeeeee moo.

**Thatz of the Dragon knights:** Fury is still alive! Had ya fooled, didn't I? Yes Im so evil buwahahahahahhahahaaaaaaaa –ahem-.

More reviewing would be nice, yes it would.


	7. Chapter 7: Envy

MWAHAHAHA

-cough-

Yes I know, I have a chronic tendency to laugh insanely and then cough. Mer. Don't like it? Eat a jellyfish.

Sooo... I decided the best way to retell the events that happened at Havoc's house would be to have a flashback-ish thing rather than run-on dialogue, because as we know from certain chapter of the prologue –cough- that does not always sound very good. Or realistic. I know, I'm a cheap lazy bastard.

-British accents-

Roy: Here here.

Ed: I say.

Roy: Cheerio.

Ed: Higglety pigglety.

O.o;;;

I disclaim, because it's easier than typing up the disclaimer. –coughlazybastardcough-

And no offense to the British peoples out there. Cookie time! –cookie-

Plus, there's a bit of a surprise twist towards the end. You'll see. –cackle-

This chapter is dedicated to AnimeDragonofFire and their fury-is-alive-ness. Thanks for taking the time to review my work!

**

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Chapter 7: Envy**

_"You done yet?"_

_"I told you, Havoc, this isn't easy. It takes time, and unless you want it blowing up in your face, I suggest you be patient and let me work."_

_"But being patient is boring..."_

_Havoc paced back and forth in front of the T.V. as Fury worked on it from the back. He had agreed not smoke while Fury was here, and he was beginning to regret it. So what if it had only been barely ten minutes since he last smoked?_

_"Yeah, well, I'm going outside for a while. If you get done before I get back... do whatever. Although at this rate, you probably won't finish 'til I'm six feet under."_

_Fury sighed and continued to work. Havoc shrugged and walked over to the front door, a hand already reaching into his pocket for a cigarette. He opened the door and froze, a smoke lifted halfway to his lips._

_Face down on the concrete steps to his house was a small man dressed in black clothing, his palm-tree hair limp about his body._

_The cigarette dropped to the ground as Havoc swiftly drew his gun from its holster and aimed it at the monster. His hands were shaking slightly and his heart was pummeling his rib cage, but the homunculus didn't move a muscle. After an anxious moment of wondering if he was going to die here, killed before he knew what had happened. But still it did not move, and he warily holstered his gun._

_"Havoc? Are you still here? What are you doing?"_

_Fury looked up from his task as Havoc reentered the room. _

_"Are you okay? You look pale..."_

_"Umm, yeah, 'bout that... seems a stray has shown up on my doorstep."_

_Fury's face brightened._

_"Oh? Is it a cat? I always wanted another cat."_

_Havoc rubbed his temples. Oh, yeah, another cat. Wouldn't want the other fifteen the animal-crazed boy owned to be lonely._

_"I'm afraid it's not that kind of a stray."_

_"ah..."_

_Fury had subconsciously placed himself behind Havoc as he stared down at the homunculus. Havoc stood there a moment longer, absently gazing down at the motionless creature before sighing and stooping down._

_"I'm bringing him in."_

_"Wh-what? You can't seriously... "_

_"Move."_

_Fury obediently stepped aside as Havoc lifted Envy over his shoulder and carried him inside._ _He wasn't surprised at how light the homunculus was. After all, it wasn't human, right?_

_Havoc set Envy down on the sofa across from the half-dismantled T.V. set. Almost immediately after that, his eyes flew open._

_Fury squeaked and leapt behind Havoc's shoulder again. Havoc already had his pistol in hand. Envy's eyes slowly came into focus and settled on the ceiling before turning to look at Havoc and the gun aimed towards himself. He kept staring, and Havoc was just about ready to shoot and get it over with when he finally spoke up._

_"What are you waiting for, the sky to fall? Shoot me already."_

_"If you're going for famous last words, that could use a bit of work."_

_"Real funny, potato head."_

_Havoc's eye twitched._

_"P...Potato head?"_

_"Are you trying to imitate a parrot or were you born that way?"_

_Havoc slowly lowered his gun and stood up straight, running a hand through his hair._

_"Alright wise guy, what are you up to? Seeing as you haven't impulsively slaughtered us yet, I'm assuming there's a reason you're here."_

_Fury inched slightly out from behind Havoc to get a better look at the homunculus. He still hadn't moved a muscle, at least until now. He grinned menacingly._

_"Oh, there's no reason. I simply can't move. That makes me a bit vulnerable, wouldn't you say?"_

_"So... you're not here for some late revenge for Dante?"_

_Envy burst into bitter laughter, which made Fury flinch._

_"Revenge for Dante? No, why would I avenge that high and mighty piece of decaying filth? The only reason I went along with her was so I could find my bastard father and have fun with his sons in the meantime. Plus, I got watch mankind suffer at my hands."_

_Envy grimaced._

_"However, even if I wanted to do that now I couldn't. Damned little black things inside the Gate kept trying to tear at me. I think they managed to dissolve most of the red stone I've ingested. I probably only have about one life's worth left of red stone left. If the gate hadn't suddenly opened up when it did..."_

_Havoc had put away his gun and was leaning against the television. _

_"Why are you telling us all this?"_

_"Why not? It's not like it matters. I have no purpose anymore. Causing humankind to suffer has lost its appeal. I can barely walk around for five minutes without dropping dead. I-"_

_"Whoa, back up a step. Dropping dead?"_

_The homunculus smiled sourly._

_"Not dead, really, but a deathlike state. You see, if a homunculus only has one life's worth of stone in them, then if they exert too much energy they'll go into a hibernation of sorts until they regain that energy through whatever source available. Hell, leave me out in the sun and I'll soak up the energy from its rays. The 'human' way to do it would be to get energy through food or drink, although that's a little harder to do when your body has stopped functioning. If we have enough stone then we don't have to worry about it. I never really had to think about being this vulnerable before, as there was no shortage of stone before I went into the Gate."_

_"So... if you stored enough energy while you're...'alive' by eating, then you would be less likely to drop d - hibernate?"_

_"I suppose so."_

_"I dunno... why should I believe any of this?"_

_"What, would you like me to demonstrate?"_

_"No, no, that's okay."_

_"Good, because it's not exactly a walk in the park to be dead for an hour. Makes you feel all tingly and numb for a while after you wake up. Like right now, for instance."_

_Envy slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position on the couch, and tenderly rubbed one of his hands._

_"I think I'm a little better now. I can feel my hands at least."_

_"So what are you going to do now? If you're going to leave, I prefer you to not kill us on your way out the door."_

_"Leave? And do what, sleep on someone else's doorstep for a while? If I'm 'killed' while I'm 'dead,' then I'll stay dead. In fact, if you were to shoot me right now, I would probably die, seeing as that would be my last bit of stone down the drain."_

_Havoc rubbed his temples, trying to clear his head. So Envy was a good guy now? No, he simply didn't want to kill people anymore. That didn't make him a good guy. Was it possible that he could become a good person? Use his shape shifting for good rather than manipulation and subterfuge? Havoc was just about to speak when Fury beat him to it._

_"Well... would you like to stay with Havoc? I mean, I'll help too..."_

_Havoc gaped at his meek friend, and Envy simply burst into laughter. However, it wasn't quite as bitter as before._

_"I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?"_

_Havoc loosened up a little. He stepped over to the couch._

_"Alright, you can stay. But only until we find you some red stone."_

_Envy turned his head sharply to look at Havoc, causing his green locks to bounce slightly._

_"Why would you do something like that?"_

_Havoc turned away quickly as he felt a blush creep onto his face. _What the hell, Havoc? Are you that embarrassed to help someone in need?

_"Promise me this. Once we do find a red stone and you can leave, you won't kill another person for as long as you... eh... exist."_

_He didn't expect Envy to actually commit to something like that, no matter what he said. But his response sounded surprisingly sincere. Or was it just his imagination?_

_"I promise."_

Havoc stopped for a moment in his summed up retelling of how Envy had come to them, wondering if that was all the important information. Before he could add anything else, Ed interrupted him, rising to his feet.

"You let that... that _monster_ into your house? Do you actually believe anything that he says isn't a load of bull?"

Havoc reached for his pocket, and then remembered he wasn't in uniform and that he had no cigarettes and that he wasn't allowed to smoke in a hospital. He sighed and leaned back, twiddling his thumbs as an alternative.

"He almost killed Breda and Farman!"

Havoc flinched. Al spoke quietly.

"Nii-san, we don't know if that's what happened..."

"No, Al, he's right. I...how about I explain."

"It better be a damn good explanation to explain why you haven't killed that bastard even after he's done this."

"...The reason I brought Envy into headquarters as Fury was so that I could... well, you see I had seen the Colonel- I mean Fuhrer looking in his cabinets and I-"

"You were going to steal my red stone?"

Roy was standing now, looking appalled.

"...Yes, sir."

Roy sat back down and took a deep breath.

"We've known each other a long time, Havoc. I didn't think anyone knew that I possessed a red stone, but if you had asked me for it I would have gladly given it to you."

"But you would be expecting an explanation, of course."

"Yes. Why did you hide this from me?"

Havoc paused for a moment, glanced at Hughes, and then looked back at Roy.

"I find it hard to tell my secrets to someone who keeps secrets from me."

There was a sudden loud crashing noise coming from down the hall, along with a scream and a loud stream of curses. Havoc leapt to his feet and ran down the hall, followed by the rest of the gang. They turned into one of the rooms and bumped into a nurse running out, her face pale. Inside the room, Fury was standing on the bed, a twisted look of rage etched into his face. Roy's heart jumped at the sight of Fury's image looking so utterly different, but calmly reminded himself that this was not Fury.

"Havoc!"

He leapt off of the bed, and in a momentary flash of light he was Envy again.

"Why the hell did you leave me there? Anything could have happened! Or are you just plotting to let me die and get me off your hands?"

He was screaming loud enough for the world to hear. The others stood helplessly by as Havoc began shouting back just as loudly.

"Me? What was I doing? What the hell were _you_ doing, beating the shit out of Farman and Breda?"

Envy took a step closer.

"They were gonna find out! You know damn well that I can't act like Fury!"

Havoc stepped closer as well.

"So you just decided to slaughter them? What was the real reason? Tell me!"

They kept stepping closer, both looking about ready to wring the other's neck, literally screaming in each other's faces.

"I would expect you to know that by now!"

Lips smashed against lips in a fierce kiss. The others gaped.

Havoc grasped Envy's waist with both hands and leaned into the kiss, both their tongues searching each other's mouths hungrily. When they finally pulled away both looked just as ticked off as before.

Havoc turned on his heel to face the others, whose mouths were still hanging open, especially now that Havoc was looking at them as boredly as ever. Envy had turned off to the side with his hands on his hips, gazing around the roominsipidly.

"Sorry about all the yelling."

"Erm, yeah... Havoc, did you just... _kiss_ him?"

Havoc raised an eyebrow at Roy.

"What, like you don't make out with Hughes all the time behind our backs?"

Hughes burst out laughing. Roy blushed furiously.

"Fine. Fine. Let's all go check on Breda and Farman, and then maybe we can go back to the lobby and get our facts straight. Right? Right."

He stormed out of the room as Havoc and Hughes laughed together at his retreating back.

* * *

Behold the evilly evilness of my evil!

a.k.a. the HavocEnvy pairing thing.

Trust me, I have NO idea where that plot bunny came from. I just saw that yelling scene in my head and I was like Heeey, I gotta write that one down! Strangely enough, I didn't even think twice about the pairing. After all, since I don't really like Envy and he's an evil bastard I simply never tried pairing him with anyone. Soo...my envy is _slightly_ less evil in the sense that he doesn't want to kill everything in sight. –cough-

Review time!

**AnimeDragonofFire:** -blink- Wow, the aliveness of Fury being alive is amazing, isn't it?

...That's the only review. –sob- TTTT Thankies ADF.

Well, at least this chapter is longer than the last two shorties. So read up. You don't have to pay to read the stuff on this site, you could at least leave a review! x.x


	8. Chapter 8: The Chapter Of Shortness etc

Well, guess what?

I am leaving for Indianapolis on Wednesday to perform at Bands of America Grand National Championships for the first time in my and my band's life. I'll be back Sunday morning (about four days). No, I don't think we will do well. Not only are we pretty below average this year, but we only have forty-odd members. Sadly, that is quite a large number of people for a school as poor as ours. I would start ranting now about the unfairness of school funding based on test scores here and how the school tried to pass a levy three times and failed three times, but mer. Who knows, maybe the school will close before I graduate. –slaps self- gah the angst is taking over tha woooooorld oo mwah I luv angsty fics. –twitchtwitch-

Anywayz, so yah. I'm writing this author's note before I begin the story, but of course once you see it, it'll be finished. I'm assuming it will be a short chappie so I can put it up tonight and get the news out.

If for some weird reason or another you end up at the band competition, I'll be in the Federal Hocking High School Marching Band, although we do have middle school members too, 7th and 8th graders. (our high school begins at 9th grade and our middle and high schools are connected.) No, I don't believe it will be on T.V., you have to buy a DVD for $30 I think. That way our crappiness can be remembered forever. . I really wanna go back two years to the Bill Chase show. It was awesome and our band actually made state for the first time in over ten years. Oh, and if you wanna know which one I am, I play trumpet and I'm pretty short and more that a little fat. At the beginning of the show the trumpet section is sitting at checker tables in front of the front sideline. I'll be the only girl with a lacquered (brass colored) trumpet. If you can't tell if I'm a girl, of the three people with lacquered trumpets I'm the fattest, the other two are skinny. Okay, I just explained all that but it's about .0000000001 chance that any of you will actually be there. Oo A girl has a right to make up stuff, right?

You may have noticed, I end up skipping a lot of words and repeating words in the same sentence, among other mistakes. That is due to the un-beta'edness. Sorry. TTTT

I lazily and fattilly disclaim.

p.s. I _think_ it was near nighttime in the story. x.x

**

* * *

Chapter 8: The Chapter Of Shortness That IsLike Shorter Than The A/N And Shall Most Likely Be Combined With Chapter Nine Later When I Am Alive Again **

They were all assembled in the lobby, which looked more like a grim meeting room now. Havoc had called Fury and explained to him, and he was now sitting in one of the chairs, gazing shamefaced at his feet. There was still no word from the doctors concerning Farman and Breda, other than they were still alive. It was dark out now, and the windows would look to be painted black if not for the lamp posts and late fireflies.

Roy deftly bit the inside of his lip. He finally had a chance to sit down and ponder this strange chain of events. The letter from his sister, having a momentary lapse of insanity (he gingerly prodded at the bandages still encasing his head), discovering Karen was still alive and under his sister's name as the head of investigations, the attack in the hall, and finally Havoc's confession. Add that all to what had happened already now long ago with Hughes' resurrection... Maybe now he could get this all cleared up.

"Okay. We all have a lot of explaining to do... and secrets to share. I would start by finishing my conversation with Karen before the attack, but seeing as she chose not to be here, that will have to wait. After that was the brawl outside my office."

He glanced at Havoc, who gave a slight night and carefully pulled himself up straight.

"As I was beginning to say before, I happened to come across Roy one day as he was rummaging through one of his cabinets, the one he always keeps locked. I saw the red stone quite clearly."

When he didn't add anything else about the contents of the drawer, Roy cast him a grateful glance, which he returned with a faint nod and a slight smirk,

"After a short time planning, Fury, Envy, and I came up with the simple plan of disguising Envy as Fury and quickly getting in and out. Disguising Envy was a simple matter, of course."

"We thought you were at home, but the receptionist told us you were in a meeting. That didn't make any difference really, so we went on with our plan. It was simple. Get into your office, pick the lock and take the stone, then be on our merry way. It would have worked, only Breda and Farman happened to pass by on some business or another and noticed the open door. Then... Envy freaked. Afterwards he had expended to much energy and collapsed."

Envy was seated at the farthest end, closest to the windows. He looked vaguely sullen as he sat with his feet pulled up onto his seat. He was tinkering with a yo-yo. He looked as if he didn't care a whit for what any of them were saying, although if you looked close enough you could tell his concentration was not entirely focused on the string toy.

"I think it was some sort of instinct that caused him to do it. Of course, that wasn't the only reason. But other than us being a couple-" Roy twitched, the idea of Havoc and a homunculus together still gave him a weird feeling. "-he's also been a bit... scared."

"Scared? And what does _he_ have to be scared of?"

Ed's voice was spiteful. He would not forgive and forget easily. That would be against the principles he had built his life upon.

"Imagine you were immortal for hundreds of years, never having to worry about anything you do putting you in danger of death, and suddenly had all but the smallest bit of life stripped from you. You would have to turn every corner and walk every step in constant fear that the smallest misstep could cost you your life."

Ed bit his lip and looked down. Envy had put the yo-yo on the table and was hugging his knees, possibly asleep. Roy cleared his throat.

"Alright, we can talk more about these things later, but for now I just want some explanations. I'm afraid I may not need to ask this question."

He turned to Havoc, his faced grim and somewhat pained.

"How did Envy escape the Gate?"

* * *

SHORTY SHORTY SHORTNESSSS –cough- 

Yes its short,just barely edited to a readable state,im tired, and I wanna get this posted now so people will know where I am. Reviews, and then it's sleepy time for me. I wrote this chappie in about thirty minutes. x.x please excuse grammatical errors.

**NubianQueen413:** XD Sorry, I sorta strayed from Roy and Hughes for a while to get the rest of the story moving. No worries, though. I'm not sure how soon, but soon I shall fluff up a RoyHughes centered chappie for yah.

O.o I sure hope those bunnies from planet geranium weren't plot bunnies, because that could give you some pretty freakish plots that will haunt you til your grave if you don't use them o.o

**Reni BlueStar CC:** You're not an idiot, I was actually in a very good mood when I read your review, and it made me even happier! My brain is slushy now of course from lack of sleep –ggraskslfhlfb-

Yup, you do ramble a lot. Just like me! Fufufu –cough- You're funny. I think I am going to poke you now. –pokeh- See? I know, I'm awesome. (not)

You know, I was reading your review, and it reminded me quite a bit of myself. XD Maybe we should chat sometime. –givescookie-

Thanks to me reviewahs. COOKIE TIME –cookies for the world-


	9. Chapter 9: Explanations

YAY REJOICE HAPPY DAY SORTA IF YOU LIKE MY FIC-cough-

Anywayz, what I'm trying to say is here's chappie 9. Maybe one day when I get around to it (a.k.a. never) I may merge chapters 8 and 9 due to hurried shortness of chapter 8.

I disclaim! And when I say disclaim I mean Roy, Hughes, Havoc, and Edo are MINE! (in my dreams)

Oh, and due to certain unsaid person losing certain unsaid personal item of mine -coughnintendoDScough- with unsaid sentimental value -coughgiventomebyhalfbrotherwhoisinthearmyandboughtitinIraqcough- I am angsting. It is also one of the reasons that I took so long to update.

---

Oi, guess what? I wrote the first half of this a/n like a month or two ago, and now it's December! My dad's b-day is on Sunday, so give him lotsa presents!

...You _will_ give him presents, won't you? –wields ugly stick of doom-

But I just had a plot bunny attack! And it's not for this story, rather it's a Death Note related bunny! But when it hit me I was like OMFG I have to finish this damn chapter or I never will! I'm just having a hard time trying to remember all that I wrote and bring it together for some of the explaining going on in this chappie, because I am VERY bad at remembering things xx As for the Death Note bunny attack... we'll see. I probably wanna read the rest of it (if it's all released) before I start on _this_ bunny.

But I found my Nintendo DS! It was in my band director's bag that he had hadn't looked in since the Indy trip when I lost it! XD I was sooo relieved that no one had stolen it. I was in a constant state of tension since it went missing. I thought I was gonna have to make my friend that lost it pay for it, and that just... yeah.

New obsession: Bleach.

Anywayz, I WILL WRITE NOW! I named the chapter "explanations,"and although it may not be as explainingful as it seems to me, after taking so damn long to write it all I don't really care o.o

Listening to: Suigintou no Yoru (from the Bleach Beat Collection: Uryuu Ishida.) while writing from the point of the words "little girl." My first chapter written while listening to music. o.o

**

* * *

Chapter 9: Explanations **

Havoc sat quietly for a moment, his eyes straying to the others in the room. Roy was watching him, waiting for an answer, yet it was obvious that he already knew what the reply would be. Ed was glaring at his boots with his hands pushed down firmly into his lap, every now and then casting a death glare at Envy. Al was watching his brother, deep in thought. Envy was still curled up in the fetal position, asleep. Hughes was watching Havoc as well, waiting for the response that he knew would come. He looked a bit pale.

"From what I've gathered, no, neither you nor Hughes need to ask that question. Before I answer, I think you need to explain some things to us first."

Roy glanced at Hughes, who returned the look. Realization was beginning to show itself on Ed's face, and Al was squirming uncomfortably in his seat. Hughes sighed and leaned sullenly back in his seat.

"Alright."

The Elrics, Fury, and Havoc all turned to face him. He hesitated, then grimaced. In a flash of light he had returned to Homunculus form. Envy lifted an eyelid to see the transformation. Fury gasped, and Havoc's eyes widened slightly and the corner of his mouth twitched into an almost-grin.

"I never would have believed it if I had not seen it with my own eyes..."

Hughes grinned wryly, then he recounted all that happened. He explained how Gracia had always been an alchemist, how she had tried to resurrect him and how Alicia had been taken into the Gate, pulling the last strings of Gracia's sanity loose. During his retelling his skin became even whiter, by the time he had gotten to where he had ended up at Roy's house he was hugging his stomach. Roy suddenly realized what was happening and cursed himself for not noticing sooner. He swiftly pulled a small trashcan over and placed an arm around Hughes' shoulders. Havoc half stood up as the man began to vomit.

"H-Hey, what's going on? Is he okay?"

"Don't you remember what Gracia was saying? The transmutation was imperfect. So far it seems this is the only symptom of that. It seems to be happening less frequently though..."

A nurse hurried over to where they sat.

"Excuse me, but may I help?"

"It's fine, he'll be alright in a moment."

The nurse looked doubtful, but after a protective death glare from the Fuhrer she turned her back and scurried back to her duties. Havoc sat back down and watched apprehensively until he stopped retching. He sighed.

"Man, I could really use a cigarette right now..."

Roy rubbed Hughes' back as he always did until the color began to return to his face. After he seemed about normal again, Havoc spoke up.

"Alright. Now that I know what happened, maybe I can explain this without confusing everyone..."

"During the time right after Envy first entered the Gate, he began frantically trying to find the other end, where Hohenheim is. He told us that the black things had been constantly trying to decompose him. He avoided that mostly by hanging his shape every so often, but that only slowed the process. At some point he gave up on trying to find the other side of the gate and instead focused on trying to find a way out. He wasn't having much luck there either."

"Then suddenly the black things recoiled and the Gate opened. On the other side he could the them reaching out and taking a little girl."

Hughes shut his eyes and looked down to the side, his teeth clenched. Roy, his arm now wrapped about Hughes' shoulders, squeezed his arm lightly.

"... Envy took this chance to escape, morphing into the shape of a fly and landing on a nearby wall to find out where he was."

A few minutes passed in silence, Havoc looking as if he wanted to continue, but couldn't form the right words.

"... I guess that's all that needs explaining. After that, he left Gracia's basement and ran until he maxed out his energy and crawled up the next house he came to."

More silence. Havoc coughed and pointed at the bandages wrapped about Roy's head.

"So... what happened to your head?"

Roy tore himself away from studying the floor long enough to look at Havoc.

"Oh... that has to do with Karen..."

Roy explained all that had happened between him and Karen, beginning with the letter he had received. All the while he was frantically trying to decide whether he should be sharing this with all of them rather than dealing with it himself. But no, it would be better for others to know, just in case anything unexpected happened...

Just as he was finishing, a doctor stepped out of one of the rooms and made his way down the hall, stopping in the lobby.

"Excuse me, but the patient Farman is now in a stable condition. You may go see him now if you like. Try not to crowd him too much."

He added the last statement while eyeing their large group before turning back to his duties. Roy stood up, stretched, and began to make his way calmly down the hallway, although he seemed trying his best not to break into a run. The other stood to follow him.

"Um...hey..."

Roy turned around quickly to look at Fury.

"Yes?"

"I... don't mean to be rude, but if it happened once... might you... lose it again like you did after reading your sister's letter? What would we do then?"

Roy stood silently, and Fury was just about to panic for fear that he shouldn't have asked when Roy spoke.

"Idon'tknow, Fury."

* * *

FWOO! FINALLY! Say hello to the crappiest crappy crap chapter of my story! It's finally finished! It's not even long T.T 

And guess what? Although you probably all already know Now I am no longer allowed to reply to reviews in my chapters, but now I can reply to the reviewers themselves! w00t!

PLZZZ review! Tell me how crappy I am! Come on! Cookies for all! Merry Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa! Chanukah starts on Christmas this year! –squee-


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